Some movies are just short-lived entertainment. We watch them once, but we forget about them once they're over. But then there are films that become true classics. Movies that we talk about with our friends, inspire us, scare us, and even change us for the better. We've come across some truly mesmerizing behind-the-scenes footage from our favorite films, showing the actors and directors busy doing their magic. These will really make you appreciate the art of filmmaking!
The Real Tan Of Indiana Jones
All Indiana Jones movies were shot on location under the boiling sun. In fact, there were only a few umbrellas protecting Spielberg and Ford. So, their tans were results of long daylight hours spent shooting action sequences.
We don't mind because it made the actors look more attractive, right?
Titanic's Famous Line
People who have or haven't watched Titanic do recognize the iconic line of "I'm the king of the world!" said by Jack (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). Also, many people think that this famous scene was shot on a green screen.
However, the truth is that it was shot, last-minute, on the orders of director James Cameron. He noticed a gorgeous sunset behind the ship and decided to shoot the scene right then and there.
An Amazing Maze
Even if you are a fan of horror movies or not, you must have heard of the movie The Shining – it’s a masterpiece.
In the movie, navigating the hedge maze should've been quite easy because of its true size. Director Stanley Kubrick didn't opt for carving out a full-size labyrinth from expensive topiaries and instead went for the easiest method by using miniatures.
Dominant Cuckoo
The 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won many awards, and Jack Nicholson's remarkable acting helped him win an Oscar as well. We don't know for sure what is happening in this cast photo, but it is clear that Jack Nicholson is doing what he did in the entire movie: dominate the scenes with his powerful presence.
You can also see that Donald Duck is getting manhandled and we don't know why but it brought a smile on our faces.
A Cool Freddy Krueger
Fans of horror movies can say Freddy Krueger is, without a doubt, an awesome character. In fact, the character is so good that you almost see Freddy Krueger's face in every Halloween mask or costume.
But not many people know that Robert Englund, the actor who played Freddy, was super cool and low-key on the set of Nightmare On Elm Street. This photo shows how the cast loved being around him.
A Rare Smile On Professor Snape's Face
Fans of Harry Potter take no time in admitting that they hated Professor Snape until (spoiler alert) finally discovering that he was a good guy all along. Although for a while you'd never guess it considering Snape hardly so much as cracked a smile.
The dour Severus Snape (played by late Alan Rickman) used to laugh every so often. In fact, he cracked plenty of jokes with Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint during the filming.
Shirley Eaton’s Gold Body
The 1964 third installment in the James Bond series Goldfinger was a massive success as it recouped its budget in just two weeks.
In the film, actor Shirley Eaton's character gets taken out of commission when the villain covers her entire body in gold. In reality, the real villain was the many hours spent waiting for Eaton during body paint.
The Creepiest Twins In Cinema History
The Grady twins (played by twin sisters Lisa and Louise Burns) in The Shining roamed the halls of the hotel and were super creepy.
But they were also creepy behind the scenes as well. The film helped give identical twins a terrifying reputation.
O.J Simpson As The Terminator
Believe it or not, executives of The Terminator were considering hiring O.J. Simpson for the role of the Terminator.
But James Cameron stepped in and changed their minds by pointing out that he looked too nice and the role didn't exactly fit him. Phew!
For The Love Of Tea
When George, John, Paul, and Ringo were on the set of the British musical comedy-adventure film Help!, they were on wintry slopes and had never skied before. They weren't given a lot of directions as well.
That didn't stop them from staying true to British traditions, once they noticed the cameras weren't rolling they decided to sit down for tea. That's a cool way to enjoy a picnic.
Start Of A New Relationship
The early 90s was simply amazing. In Edward Scissorhands, both Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder played star-crossed lovers who actually started to fall in love with each other in real life as well.
So when the cameras weren't rolling, both were starting their own romantic story and even got engaged. However, they split up after three years. Interesting fact, when they began dating, Depp was 26 and Ryder was 17.
Casablanca
It is hard to imagine that Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart were thinking about creating one of the most classic and memorable moments in the history of cinema at that time.
It was a low-pressure moment as only director Michael Curtiz was in front of them and probably that's why the scene looks so natural and effortless.
Finally Settling The Debate
There is an old debate on whether there was extra room for Jack on the floating boat on not. You might’ve thought about it as well the first time you saw the movie.
This behind-the-scene photo confirms that indeed there was extra room for him.
Bye Bye Height Phobia
Although the fall down the reactor shaft looks scary intense in The Empire Strikes Back, it is not the case.
In fact, there was stunt padding at the bottom and it was only a five-foot drop that looked horribly deep onscreen.
Creating A New World
Did you know that the lovely village of Munchkin Land was entirely built? Professionals built everything from the trees to fountains.
They did it all on a soundstage at the MGM studio in Los Angeles. Isn't it impressive?
Using Miniatures Effectively
In the sequence of Back to the Future Part III, Doc and Marty travel in time by push-starting the Delorean with a locomotive.
To ensure that the scene would put no one's life in danger, director Robert Zemeckis decided to use miniatures to film all the exterior shots.
The Keysi Fighting Method (KFM)
We know very well that Christopher Nolan is a perfectionist. He ensured the actors on all the Batman movies received the best training by choreographing fight scenes using the martial art Keysi.
He even went on invite Keysi inventor Justo Dieguez (on the left) to not just choreograph, but to actually train the actors in martial arts.
The Real MGM Lion
There is a fake photo on the internet claiming that MGM got its image for the logo by strapping a lion to a table.
In reality, the real MGM lion roamed free and was well behaved. So it is best not to believe everything you see on the internet.
Robots Get Thirsty As Well
This is one of the earliest behind-the-scenes photos, which was taken back in 1927 on the set of Metropolis.
In the photo, you can see actress Brigitte Helm drinking lemonade.
Cameo From the Director
Director Alfred Hitchcock didn't shy away from making cameos in his movies. In this shot from the movie Rear Window, he is watching Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly.
By the way, look closely and you'll notice other actors in the set are also watching the three of them.
Real Roller Coaster Ride
Fans of Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom loved the mine cart chase sequence.
Although it looks like there was the use of CGI magic for the sequence, those carts were actually flying down the rails.
Where's My Money, Man?
Did you know that the manager of Rolling Stones, Allen Klein, demanded $150,000 for a cover of the band's song played over The Big Lebowski's credits?
Well, he recanted his demand once he was shown an early screening of the film and hearing the Dude say, "I hate the f-king Eagles, man."
Hiring Actual CIA Agents For The Movie
For the movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Jim Carrey had to sit for eight hours for artists to apply Grinch's makeup. It was having such a negative impact on Carrey that producers had to hire CIA agents.
The job of agents was to coach him on how to endure the torture of sitting for eight hours. Yes, we're totally serious.
Too Good To Be Unreal
When people saw the 1980 mockumentary Cannibal Holocaust, they weren't entirely convinced that it was just fiction.
As a result of it, the director, Ruggero Deodato, even had to appear in an Italian court just to prove that it was all fiction and they didn't film real violent slaughters.
Dog Earning More Than “Munchkin” Actors
In The Wizard of Oz, the dog (Toto) went on to make more money than any of the "munchkin" actors.
It seems like the union representatives of the Lollipop Guild weren't really good at contract negotiation or maybe the producers really liked Toto.
Sigourney Weaver Shocked Everyone
In one scene from the movie Alien: Resurrection, Sigourney Weaver had to toss a basketball over her head and into the net. Understanding that it was an impossibility for the actress to do it, the studio already planned on using CGI for the scene.
However, the actress surprised everyone with a shot. We can't imagine how everyone controlled their surprised reactions at seeing her make an impossible shot.
Replacing Adult Actors with Child Actors for a Scene
In Ridley Scott's film Alien, there's a scene in which the crew discovers the Space Jockey (a massive alien life form).
The director decided to make it look bigger by using short, preteen kids in spacesuits as actors and it did the job perfectly.
They Underestimated Patrick Swayze
The director and writer of the movie Ghost saw Road House and Next of Kin and firmly believed that actor Patrick Swayze had no emotional range to play Sam Wheat.
However, they changed their minds once they saw him cry in an interview while discussing his late father.
An Unusual Way To Motivate Actors
Stanley Kubrick made his actors uncomfortable just to get the best performances out of them.
For instance, in the movie A Clockwork Orange, he gave a pet snake to character Alex once he found that Malcolm McDowell was afraid of snakes.
Fart Machine
In The Usual Suspects, there is one scene in which suspects in the police line-up start laughing uncontrollably.
Well, that iconic scene was never part of the script, but the actors couldn't control their laugh because Benicio Del Toro "farted, like, 12 times in a row."
An Improvised Kiss
There is one famous moment from hit movie Top Gun in which Tom Cruise kisses his co-star Kelly McGillis.
He was supposed to deliver an on-screen argument, but he forgot his line and didn't cut the scene. Instead, he improvised a kiss.
Taking Inspiration from Personal Loss
Mandy Patinkin delivers an infamous passionate line, "I want my father back," to the six-fingered man in The Princess Bride. He was able to intensify the scene due to his personal loss.
It is because the actor said he pretended he was speaking to cancer that took away his father's life (in reality).
When Sean Connery Got His Wrist Broken
Sean Connery undertook martial arts training for his role in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again.
His trainer, Steven Seagal, was great in training Connery, except for when he accidentally broke the actor's wrist.
Learned From Mom, Implemented On Set
Tina Fey was amazing in Mean Girls. In an interview, she said, My mom has this habit that if she sees a lady in a really ugly hat or a glittery sweatshirt, she’ll go, ‘I love your shirt’…[because] ‘clearly she wanted someone to notice.'”
In honor of her mom, Tina decided to have Regina George do something similar in the film as well.
So, That's How You Make Him Feel Jealous?
Director Stanley Kubrick wanted to ensure that there was a feel of jealously between Dr. Bill Hartford (played by Tom Cruise) and his wife (Nicole Kidman) in the movie Eyes Wide Shut.
To achieve it, he decided to ban the actor from the set when Kidman (his real-life wife at that time) filmed an intense sex scene.
Tim Burton's Humor
When Tim Burton came up with the name Beetlejuice for his ghostly comedy film, the studio didn't like it and suggested the name Ghost House.
In response to it, Burton came up with the name Scared Sheetless. Obviously, that made his point much clearer.
When One Great Film Stopped Another Great Film
We all know that There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men are critically acclaimed films. Did you know that both of them were filmed in Marfa, Texas, at the exact same time?
In fact, No Country for Old Men had to stop the production for an entire day because the smoke from the set of There Will Be Blood was filling the skies.
When Samuel L. Jackson's Love Saved A Movie
Samuel L. Jackson was superb in the movie Snakes on a Plane. But when the name changed to Pacific Air Flight 121 during filming, the actor was hell-bent on changing the title back.
It is because he took on the role in the first place because of the original title. We are glad he insisted a lot not to change the name.
The Movie Dredd Used Justin Bieber's Song
The "Slo-Mo" drug scenes have music that the audiences really loved and they were disappointed not to find it on the soundtrack CD. Do you know why they couldn't find it there?
Well, it’s because that wasn't an original score. In fact, it was Justin Bieber' song "U Smile" which was slowed down by 800 percent.
Vin Diesel's Tribute To His Game Character
Vin Diesel needed to get fake tattoos for his role in xXx. Before getting inked, he came up with a request.
He wanted to pay tribute to his 20-year dedication to Dungeons and Dragons and the game character "Melknor."